‘Rahm’s seismic LIV switch leaves golf deeply fractured’

Jon Rahm’s move to LIV fundamentally shifts the landscape of men’s professional golf – it is a seismic moment in the sport’s so called ‘civil war’.

The Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour could not have landed a bigger scalp than the Spaniard, who won the Masters last April and was unbeaten in helping inspire Europe to regain the Ryder Cup just weeks ago.

Rahm has international appeal. A Spanish matador who invokes the spirit of Seve Ballesteros in his tempestuous play; he is a European hero.

But he was schooled in the United States and proved a popular winner of the country’s national championship when he made his major breakthrough by winning the 2021 US Open.

That universal appeal is invaluable to LIV and his switch to them leaves a gaping hole on the PGA Tour as well as potentially Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

There will be huge pressure to alter the rules of eligibility for Luke Donald’s side when they defend the trophy in New York in 2025. The Ryder Cup would be seriously devalued if a player of Rahm’s stature is considered ineligible.

Under current rules, Rahm would be eligible to play in the next contest because he has signed his DP World Tour membership forms for the coming season. However, the eligibility criteria for the 2025 European Ryder Cup team will not be announced until next year, with the qualification period not beginning for at least another nine months.

American Brooks Koepka was the only LIV player to feature this year but fans will demand nothing less than the best of Europe against the best of the US going forward.

It was a handy coincidence that none of the Europeans playing on Greg Norman’s circuit could mount an irresistible case for inclusion this year. That is highly unlikely in 2025 with Rahm now among their number.

More immediately, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the golf-mad governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV, now has a stacked hand as he faces off with the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan in their upcoming negotiations.

This is aimed at consolidating the 6 June ‘framework agreement’ aimed at bringing Saudi funds into the PGA and DP World Tours. This was supposed to signal peace between the establishment and the upstarts, but has yielded anything but.

Indeed, it was that top secret deal which ultimately prompted Rahm’s move. Until then he was a PGA Tour loyalist, who held LIV and its 54-hole shotgun start format in barely disguised contempt.

Yes, he was friends with Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia who were among the first to cross the divide, but LIV was most certainly not for him. He spoke of “fealty” to the PGA Tour – the place where he wanted to make his own history.

But that loyalty evaporated with the controversial Saudi deal that none of the players saw coming. The arch loyalist suddenly started to speak of “betrayal” and from that moment Monahan and his management team needed to be on alert.

Nevertheless the notion of Rahm making this move still seemed pretty distant. He was signed up to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL simulator league that was due to start early next year, so was still on the establishment side.

But last month he announced that he could not commit to TGL, which then suffered a structural collapse to its prototype stadium in Florida, delaying the project by a year. The roof falling in.

It was a portent to rumours that Rahm was off. They first surfaced at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai just over a fortnight ago and gathered momentum until the dam burst with Thursday’s confirmation.

It leaves the sport deeply fractured. It could be argued that the best five golfers in the world are Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy, Rahm, Cam Smith and Brooks Koepka.

There is no point in consulting the Official World Golf Rankings because they have been utterly compromised by LIV’s arrival – their 14-tournament circuit receives no recognition from the now outdated OWGR.

Of that unofficial top five, Scheffler and McIlroy are the only non-LIV players. The sport is split down the middle and LIV has growing credibility.

McIlroy is desperate to find a way to reunite the game, but has resigned from the PGA Tour’s board. Woods is the key voice around that now player majority table and his antipathy towards Saudi Arabia is well known.

Indeed, the 15-times major champion turned down a package nearing the billion dollar mark in the early days of LIV’s incarnation. Woods has to be persuaded that Saudi involvement needs to be part of the PGA Tour’s future.

Without it there will be no peace, no unification and men’s professional golf outside the majors will be disparate and diluted. LIV is clearly well placed to pick off more and more big names and rumours are already starting to fly.

Unless a deal is done, and the 31 December deadline is fast approaching, we are left with pro golf headed towards the mish-mashed divided landscape of professional boxing.

“With this crossroads in the sport, I see a lot of similarities between men’s golf and boxing,” leading sports lawyer John Nucci posted on X.

The legal expert observed how boxing’s popularity has suffered with so many different governing bodies. “This has led to scheduling conflicts, diluted talent pools and the turn off of fans.”

Geo-politically, concerns over Saudi Arabian sport washing were brushed aside when the PGA Tour signed the ‘framework agreement’ last June. There was no longer any moral high ground for the loyalists.

I remember asking Rahm if had any qualms over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record when he was defending champion at the 2022 US Open. “I am not going to get into politics,” he flat batted.

What is clear, though, is that money talks. Even for a player who has amassed around $75m in winnings well before his 30th birthday.

This deal is arguably the biggest individual contract in sporting history, especially if add ons from team ownership and sponsorships come to fruition. And, don’t forget he will be playing $20m events every time he tees it up.

But this is pro sport. Money always talks the loudest in this greed driven environment and Rahm’s move offers further proof.